David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite! discussion

David, Karen, Jen and I are going to do a buddy read the third and final book in the Under the Never Sky series, Into the Still Blue!

This buddy read starts Friday Jan 31st and everyone is welcome to join! There are no set chapters per day, we just read at our own paces and start each post with how far along you are, i.e., Chapter #, %, using spoilers where needed. Have fun!

AWESOME! Technically it's Friday here and I kinda sorta finished The Testing and so I mighta read the first chapter of Into the Still Blue ;) So glad to be back in this world!

LOL its 12 mintues until midnight here, so if you want to get technical...hehe

An hour and 6 minutes until midnight here! I may have to cheat! ;-P

Go for it, Karen! Everyone else does :P

LOL!!!

I can't wait for you guys to read it! I thought it was amazing. :)

I started this about midnight but I was lost. Damn memory! So I'm rereading the last few chapters of . Or I need to go back to the buddy read we did on that one or something. Plus it was late so maybe I was just tired.

I hate it when its a year or more between releases. I don't want to miss anything so if I have to I'll go reread the first two. Hope I can jog my memory enough with just the few chapters. :(

I was a little confused at first, but its starting to come back to me a little. I'm at 23% at the moment, and right now I just feel so sorry for Roar, Aria, and Perry! (view spoiler)[ Aria's arm--UGH that's just awful! And I think Roar is just irrationally angry at Perry--he has to know he's hurting too, but he's obviously not dealing well. Not that I expected him to--the whole thing is so sad. Soren and Brooke have me LOL a few times, though! (hide spoiler)]

Oh, good to hear. I'm hoping I was just tired. I read a chapter or two of the last book and it helped bunches so think that's what I needed.

16% in. Whew! It all came back to me! Or at least enough to figure it out as I go.

(view spoiler)[I feel so bad for Roar. I miss who he was in the last book. But it's understandable. I hope he makes up w Perry soon. (hide spoiler)]

Off to a good start!

I'm still at 23%. I was thinking about this book my entire shift at work. And the more I thought about it (view spoiler)[ The more annoyed I am with Aria bugging Perry to "talk about it." I get that she wants to talk and clear the air, but they are on a critical mission and 400 people are depending on him right now. Can they just talk later? lol Of course, this being a dystopian, I guess you never know if there will be a "later!" (hide spoiler)]

Okay I'm now up to 53%. Speeding right through this baby! (view spoiler)[ Oh. My....things have gotten so horrible, and I have no idea what to expect next. I could have strangled Roar when he took off running down the hallway! They were almost home free! And poor Cinder, what's happening to him breaks my heart! (hide spoiler)]

Holly wrote: "I can't wait for you guys to read it! I thought it was amazing. :)"

Thanks Holly, I'm really into it so far :)

35%! I'm with you about Roar (view spoiler)[ he's not the only one who lost someone! But I think we all got a better picture of where his head is at when he went back on a suicide mission to kill Sable and screwed the entire mission up. He's basically not in his right mind at all, which is pretty sad to see. (hide spoiler)]

22% in. I agree with you Jenny. (view spoiler)[I was also a bit annoyed w Aria and the let's talk about it now, part. (hide spoiler)]

Definately enjoying this!!

David wrote: "35%! I'm with you about Roar [spoilers removed]"

I know, I was so mad at him for doing that! But it does show how out of it her really was!

45% (view spoiler)[ I'm still pretty shocked about the fact they were caught. For me that was a twist as it seemed like the plan was going well and they were about to escape. It was a pretty selfish move by Roar as he had to know the others would chase after him. (hide spoiler)]

Yeah, again, he definitely was not in his right mind! I was so mad at him when that happened!

I have to try to think how I'd be if someone killed Adele. I think I'd just curl up in a ball for like a year...

GAH, don't even think about that...that kind of thinking seriously makes my heart stop for a sec! Can't even imagine it!

Although they say that women recover faster from the death of a spouse than men...but I don't want to test that theory!!

I have a feeling Roar would be doing the same thing, if they weren't in so much other drama!

I'm up to 74% now (view spoiler)[ and a HUGE sigh of relief that they made it out of that ship alive, I was sure one of them was going to get left behind or die! I wasn't too torn up over Hess's death, but I understand Soren's reaction. I LOVED Aria's kick butt move on Kirra! Kirra so deserved that! I still don't trust Sable AT ALL, and I'm really nervous that this "agreement" will not go well. And I noticed that when Sable said they could go their separate ways, he said "The Tides"--does that not include the Dwellers? What about Aria, is she considered a member of the Tides to Sable? (hide spoiler)]

Jenny wrote: "GAH, don't even think about that...that kind of thinking seriously makes my heart stop for a sec! Can't even imagine it!

Although they say that women recover faster from the death of a spouse tha..."

Oh wow, I didn't know they say that, not that it surprises me, I know so many STRONG women. I'd be a blubbering mess. Unfortunately, I do force myself to think about how I would feel if horrible things happened in my life, or how I felt during bad times in my life (as well as happy), in order to portray those emotions in my books. It's not fun, but it's amazing how much it helps my writing!

I'm now at 62%! My gosh (view spoiler)[ everything's falling apart!! (hide spoiler)]

Jenny wrote: "Okay I'm now up to 53%. Speeding right through this baby! [spoilers removed]"

Yeah, Cinder (view spoiler)[ is a really interesting character that adds SO MUCH to the story. I'm really hoping they find a way for him to survive this thing, but right now it's looking like they'll need him to martyr himself for the masses. (hide spoiler)]

I know it(view spoiler)[ gets so crazy!! (hide spoiler)]

I learned that in a Sociology class I took several years ago. That class was really interesting, it really had nothing much to do with my major, but it was a humanities credit, and it fit into my schedule well at the time.

I also learned that Darryl and I should have been divorced after a year, we fit none of the statistics for people who should marry compatibly. LOL We got married too young, we are too many years apart in age, we come from different economic backgrounds, I can't remember what else...makes me laugh! And oh, we have no common interests, and are complete opposites in just about every way!

Wow, that's too funny but just goes to show how unpredictable life is! Although these days you can pretty much say EVERY marriage is destined for divorce and you'll be right most of the time. It's sad really, but I'm glad you've proven the statistics wrong, Jenny! And you have a beautiful family to show for it :)

There's always exceptions to the rule, and I guess we are it! LOL Thank you, I think they are all pretty wonderful :)

I finished!! It was so good, loved it! (view spoiler)[ I KNEW Perry was still alive, we didn't actually see his death! I was hoping on Cinder, but I'm not surprised with his death. Sable was pure evil, and incredibly insane to boot! I can't believe he thought he could win over Aria! DUH what an idiot! The ending was all I hoped for, most of them made it, Aria reunited with her dad, Roar seemed much better, Soren was becoming less of an ass, and they were peacefully rebuilding a new home! (hide spoiler)] Wonderful read!

I finished too! I agree with everything you said, Jenny! (view spoiler)[ Although it was pretty obvious Perry would survive, I do like how he pulled it off, with the inflatable boat that Soren had made fun of him earlier for thinking was a suit LOL!

I thought it was realistic that Cinder died, but REALLY SAD. He got a raw deal in this book. I would have liked to know more about where he went--did he drown? swallowed up by the Aether? become part of the Aether?--but it's understandable that the characters wouldn't really know all that. (hide spoiler)]

All in all an awesome end to an awesome trilogy!

I agree completely (view spoiler)[ with Cinder's death, I wanted something a little more concrete, but it made sense for the author to write it the way she did! And YES, LOL about the life raft! I thought that was so clever!! Soren ended up saving Perry's life! Classic! (hide spoiler)]

It was an amazing end to one of my fave dystopian trilogies now!

59%... Slow but steady! And yup! What the heck? (view spoiler)[Aria finding her father is kind of wild! I sure hope he changes sides for his daughter.

And Perry being beaten and tortured was heartbreaking! :( (hide spoiler)]

Ooh yes, that was a nice twist Karen, I totally forgot that she didn't know who he was until it happened :)

82%... Gahhh.. (view spoiler)[Perry and Cinder CANNOT be dead!!!! (hide spoiler)]

Keeping my mouth shut...keep reading!!

Hmmm, finish quick so you don't have to wonder at work tomorrow!

Finished! (view spoiler)[Cinder! I also wish we would have known more about him. :( And I'm really happy about Loran at the end and how he changed because of Aria! Thank you, Veronica, for not killing him off. Not sure why I'm so obsessed with Loran.

I love that Soren and Brooke became a couple. You could kind of see it coming!

I love endings that show how the rebuild is taking place and lets you get a sense of how everyone will be doing in their future. (hide spoiler)]

Very satisfying ending!

YAY!! I agree, Karen, I love endings like that too!

Yay Karen, you're getting all caught up now :) I'm glad (view spoiler)[ Loran came through too. That was most satisfying. (hide spoiler)]